Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 and died at the age of 67 on May 2, 1519. Many people think that Leonardo was just an artist but he had many other interests as well. Leonardo was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.
Leonardo's self portrait Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock to a notary, Peiro da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, in Vinci which is a region of Florence. Leonardo was educated in the studio of Florentine painter Verrocchio. Much of his early working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice. He spent most of his last years in France at a home which was awarded to him Frances I.
Leonardo's most famous works of art include: The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man, and Lady with a Ermine. Da Vinci's drawing of The Vitruvian Man is being reproduced on a variety of items such as the euro coin, textbooks, and t-shirts. About fifteen of his paintings have survived. It is thought that this number is so small because of Leonardo's constant experimentation of new techniques and procrastination. Even though about only fifteen paintings have survived we still have some of his notebooks which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting.
Leonardo's Vitruvian Man
Like many famous people today Leonardo liked to keep his personal life to himself. It appears that he didn't have any close relationships with women except for his friendship with Cecilia Gallerani and the two Este sisters, Beatrice and Isabella. Leonardo drew a portrait of Isabella which appears to have been used to create a painted portrait, now lost.
Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salai and Melzi. When Melzi wrote to Leonardo's brothers to inform them of his death, Melzi described Leonardo's feelings for his pupils to be both loving and passionate. Since the 16th century it has been claimed that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Court records from 1476, when Leonardo was 24, show that Leonardo and three other men were charged with sodomy in an incident involving a well-known male prostitute. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. Since that date much has been written about Leonardo's presumed homosexuality and it's role in his art, particularly in the eroticism shown in John the Baptist and Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings.
Leonardo's drawing of Isabella
Within Leonardo's lifetime his fame was so large that the King of France presented him as a trophy and was claimed to have supported Leonardo in his old age and possibly even held him in his arms as he died. To this day Leonardo da Vinci's fame hasn't diminished. Crowds still gather to see his most famous work, t-shirts have his most famous drawing on them, and writers continue to marvel at his genius. People still speculate about his private life, but most concentrate on what is was that one so intelligent actually believed in.
Leonardo's self portrait
Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock to a notary, Peiro da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, in Vinci which is a region of Florence. Leonardo was educated in the studio of Florentine painter Verrocchio. Much of his early working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice. He spent most of his last years in France at a home which was awarded to him Frances I.
Leonardo's most famous works of art include: The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man, and Lady with a Ermine. Da Vinci's drawing of The Vitruvian Man is being reproduced on a variety of items such as the euro coin, textbooks, and t-shirts. About fifteen of his paintings have survived. It is thought that this number is so small because of Leonardo's constant experimentation of new techniques and procrastination. Even though about only fifteen paintings have survived we still have some of his notebooks which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting.
Like many famous people today Leonardo liked to keep his personal life to himself. It appears that he didn't have any close relationships with women except for his friendship with Cecilia Gallerani and the two Este sisters, Beatrice and Isabella. Leonardo drew a portrait of Isabella which appears to have been used to create a painted portrait, now lost.
Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salai and Melzi. When Melzi wrote to Leonardo's brothers to inform them of his death, Melzi described Leonardo's feelings for his pupils to be both loving and passionate. Since the 16th century it has been claimed that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Court records from 1476, when Leonardo was 24, show that Leonardo and three other men were charged with sodomy in an incident involving a well-known male prostitute. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. Since that date much has been written about Leonardo's presumed homosexuality and it's role in his art, particularly in the eroticism shown in John the Baptist and Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings.
Within Leonardo's lifetime his fame was so large that the King of France presented him as a trophy and was claimed to have supported Leonardo in his old age and possibly even held him in his arms as he died. To this day Leonardo da Vinci's fame hasn't diminished. Crowds still gather to see his most famous work, t-shirts have his most famous drawing on them, and writers continue to marvel at his genius. People still speculate about his private life, but most concentrate on what is was that one so intelligent actually believed in.